Orchids
by WrenClayton
Summary: (Contains Season 5 spoilers.) Gabriel should be fighting Lucifer and trying to stem the violence of the apocalypse. Instead he's standing here, wondering why there are orchids growing in the snow. Endverse fic. Warnings: the sex is consensual but it is also rough.


_Orchids don't grow in snow. Why are orchids growing in the snow…?_

_._

Gabriel flew.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd flown this far, this fast, or this frantically. His golden wings stabbed through time and space, grabbing onto a new location almost before he'd let go of the last one. Images flashed by him — Tokyo city, grimy with blood and soot and the filth of those taken by the croatoan virus; a small town in the Middle East, completely overgrown with disuse; the frozen wilds of North America, riddled with the bones of humans who left the warmth of cities behind in order to escape what was ravaging them… One by one, the desolate landscapes flashed before his eyes. Gabriel barely stayed long enough to recognize where he was before he was melting through time and space again, trying to find somewhere new, somewhere he wouldn't be followed.

But Gabriel _was_ followed, no matter where he went. Just a heartbeat behind him danced another set of wings, older and stronger. Wings that to Gabriel had always looked deep pink and creamy white, speckled and mottled in a beautiful pattern.

Wings like the arcing petals of an orchid.

.

Gabriel had felt it when Michael and the other angels pulled away from the world, leaving the cloudy blue marble of Earth to fend for herself against the onslaught of Lucifer. Gabriel felt it even before he heard the rumors, rumors from the hunter community, a community that was at once growing and dying. The rumors were that Sam Winchester said Yes.

Gabriel didn't want to believe it. Sam's obnoxious, stubborn refusal to play along with either angels or demons had always been… heartening. Neither trickster nor archangel had convinced Sam to be a good little chess piece. And Gabriel had loved him for it.

But soon the rumors were too endemic, too undeniable. Sam Winchester had said Yes, opened his soul, and let the devil in.

The world might have melted into a boiling war between Heaven and Hell at that point, had Dean Winchester followed his brother's lead. But he didn't. The stubborn human fought back as humans always do, with desperation and clenched teeth and too many dead friends. And with no archangel vessel to bring to bear against Lucifer, Heaven gave up and drifted away from a devastated Earth.

Maybe Gabriel could have fled with the angels if he'd wanted to, but he'd decided long ago that his place in this war was by the side of humans. And what a marvel that was, something he never would have predicted. Not so marvelous, though, when they kept dying in front of him, these steadfast little creatures who weren't_quite_ tough enough to survive the meatgrinder they were being thrown into.

For the past few months, Gabriel had been watching over an outpost of humans somewhere in what used to be New England. He tried to help them out as best he could, help them stave off the horrors of Lucifer's brave new world.

That was how Lucifer found him. Some demon harassing Gabriel's humans had caught a whiff of angel, and went running to tell the big boss. At least, that's what Gabriel had to assume happened. All he knew was that one day he came home with his humans after a supply raid — home sweet fallout shelter — out of a salty New England storm, to find the humans they'd left at home scattered across the floor in sloppy pieces. And at in the center of the carnage, sitting at their ramshackle wooden table and wearing an immaculate white suit and a sad smile, was Sam Winchester. Gabriel had had just enough time to spirit away his remaining humans to another shelter before flinging himself to the other side of the planet, Lucifer close on his heels. Now Gabriel was blinking across the globe like a firefly, golden light touching down only to disappear again, doing everything he could to shake off his brother.

He could almost smell Lucifer behind him. It was a familiar scent, one that conjured up more affection than hatred, even after all this. And it was getting closer.

Gabriel had known he was on the losing side of this battle for a long time now. And perhaps that was why, in this hour that felt like it might be his last, he turned his wings towards a place where he had once found comfort.

.

Snow whirled around him, catching in his hair and eyelashes.

For just a heartbeat, Gabriel paused as he landed, snow crunching under his feet. He stood before a pile of stones crusted with ice. A small altar had been put together, stones arranged in a way that some human had clearly felt was meaningful. Frozen bones remained from sacrifices of livestock made millennia ago. The offerings of wildflowers had long since shriveled into dust. Gabriel's gaze lingered on the stones, remembering the sight of humans crouching there, in silence and in snow.

People had once come here to worship a god they knew as Loki, and Gabriel had once answered.

Gabriel allowed himself a precious fraction of a second to soak in the familiar place. This frozen altar was so remote it seemed untouched by the burning of the world. There was a peace here that he'd been unable to find for so long. But as Gabriel braced himself to leave his once-sanctuary, as he tried to take flight again, tried to lift his golden wings and flit away to some other corner of the earth, something held him back. It felt like there was a leash wrapped around each wing, tethering him to the ground.

In the same moment that Gabriel tried and failed to fly away, something caught his eye that didn't belong among the ice and the frozen stones.

Growing out of the snow, brazen as they were out of place, were dozens of bright, healthy orchids.

There was a flutter behind Gabriel, and then a familiar smell was all around him. The smell of frost and orchids.

Gabriel clenched his teeth, not turning around yet. He tried pointlessly to fly away again, wings straining against their invisible bindings. He reached under his jacket to find his archangel blade, and managed to drawl out the words, "Check your botany, big brother. Orchids don't grow in the snow."

Gabriel could hear footsteps crunching in the ice. The footfalls spoke of a large, powerful body, one that knew how to move with grace. _That was once Sam's body, _a voice in Gabriel's mind reminded him.

"I was feeling nostalgic," came the reply. The footsteps dew closer. "I knew you would too, sooner or later."

Gabriel squeezed the silver hilt of his blade. The thought of killing his brother made him ache inside. But he couldn't just lie down and die.

"I may not always agree with you, little brother," Lucifer continued with Sam's voice. "I will never understand what you saw in such primitive worship, or why you cast yourself as one of these petty, bickering beings the humans called gods." Lucifer's voice softened, it was just a few feet behind him. "But I _know _you. I knew you would come back here."

Gabriel spun around faster than the human eye would have been able to follow, blade raised. Lucifer deflected the strike easily, grabbing Gabriel's arm in a grip like steel and twisting the blade away, yanking his brother close. Gabriel panted, staring up at Sam's face. Just as he remembered. Even with his hair combed back and his body wearing a suit so white that even the falling snow looked blue-grey by comparison, it was hard to remember this wasn't the Sam Gabriel had fought for.

"You had to know that wouldn't work," Lucifer murmured. He stroked a hand lovingly through Gabriel's hair. "You don't really want to kill me."

Gabriel wrenched away, almost surprised when he was able to. He paced around Lucifer slowly, cocking his eyebrows.

"And why wouldn't I? You didn't just drop in to say howdy."

Lucifer looked over Gabriel slowly. "It's true. I _am_ here to kill you."

Gabriel's hands clenched, but he didn't say a word. Lucifer's eyes followed him coldly as he paced.

"I want you to know, Gabriel, that if I thought there was even a _chance_ of you joining me — "

"There's not," Gabriel answered sharply.

A look of resigned loss passed over Lucifer's face, and for just a moment he looked away. Gabriel took his chance and ran, not as an angel does but as humans do, feet pounding on the frozen ground. He staggered to a stop when the invisible leashes on his wings yanked so hard they almost pulled him from his feet. And in the snow, he could see why.

Big, deep Enochian symbols had been stamped into the snow, circling in a massive ring around the altar. Gabriel stiffened when he felt Lucifer's hand on his shoulder.

"I've been looking for you for a long time, little brother." Lucifer's breath was a warm puff against his cheek, soon blown away by the cold wind. "I knew you would come back here. Demons may be wretched creatures, but even they can write in the snow."

Gabriel gave the symbols an appreciative nod. "Nice little trap you've spun, Luci. … Not so clever of you to jump in after me, though."

"Eventually a demon will come by to refresh the sigils. Maybe hours, maybe weeks from now." Lucifer trailed his fingers down Gabriel's arm. "Waiting alone in the frozen dark… it's nothing I haven't done before." He kissed the back of Gabriel's head. "And worth it for you."

Gabriel didn't pull away from the touches. They were so familiar and comforting it was all he could do not to press back against Lucifer, forget everything and pretend things were as they used to be. He could remember clear as day other times he and Lucifer had touched like this, before the Fall. Times they'd ditched Michael and Raphael and run off alone, to laugh and joke and kiss and tumble together on God's green Earth.

Gabriel closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, tearing himself away from the carefree past, and back to the dark, frozen present.

"One more time, Gabriel," Lucifer whispered into his hair, sliding a hand around Gabriel's waist to pull him close. "Just once more. I've missed you so much."

"You'll miss me a whole lot more when I'm dead," Gabriel reminded him.

Lucifer shook his head, taking Gabriel's chin gently in his hand and turning his brother's face towards him. He stroked a loving hand down Gabriel's cheek, choking out his next words. "This apocalypse is going to kill you, little brother. You must know that. If you won't stand next to me… at least let me be the one to see you from this world." He tilted Gabriel's face up, breathing against his lips. "Please, let me be the one… "

He should have fought at that point. He should have used the moment to his advantage, should have taken Lucifer's angel blade and _used_ it. It wouldn't have worked, but he should have _tried. _But Gabriel found himself frozen. Instead of drawing angel steel against the ruination of the world, he held still and let Lucifer press Sam's soft, warm lips against his.

He knew Sam's lips didn't have to be warm, that Lucifer had kept Sam's body at a normal human temperature just for this moment. It made the kiss feel more human, more like Sam, and Gabriel wasn't sure if he was grateful for that or not. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't looked at Sam's lips before and wondered how they tasted. He'd never told Sam. There had been more important things to do. _We were busy fighting Lucifer._

The kiss deepened. Gabriel eyes fluttered closed and he grabbed at Sam's body, holding him close, hands fisting in that perfect white suit like he never wanted to let go.

_That's not fighting! You're supposed to be fighting!_

Sam's tongue slid into his mouth. Gabriel groaned around it as Lucifer stroked the side of his face, gentle and loving, just like they used to touch.

_You gave up everything so you could fight!_

Sam's hands were stroking through his hair. Gabriel made a low noise in his throat when Sam's mouth opened against his and he slid his tongue in. The world was falling away, the burning, the blood, the humans he failed to protect, until there was nothing left but Sam and Lucifer, kissing him the way he'd been needing someone to kiss him for so long.

Gabriel didn't want to fight anymore.

They both grabbed a gasp of air when their lips parted for a moment. "I've missed this," Lucifer whispered against his lips, sounding breathless. "You don't know how much I've missed this."

"Believe me, I do," Gabriel grunted in reply before dragging Lucifer back to his mouth. Lucifer returned the kiss passionately before pulling back, tugging on his arm. "Come on. I want to show you something."

As if in a trance, Gabriel let Lucifer guide him back to the frozen alter. Once again he noticed the vibrant orchids, scattered through the snow. He understood them now.

"Eden," he murmured, twining his fingers through Sam's and staring at those perfect little spots of life in the frozen darkness. He felt Lucifer press a loving kiss to his head.

"Wanted you to remember what it used to be like," he murmured into Gabriel's hair. "Before all this."

Gabriel remembered, so vividly he could almost smell how the air had tasted back then. The orchid garden had been their favorite place. Of course he and Lucifer had wandered all over Dad's blue planet, poking their noses in every corner and laughing at what they found. But nothing had captured their love quite like the orchids of Eden.

_"I think this one's gotta be the best." Gabriel was lying bare on the grass, no vessel, just letting his raw form sprawl out into the matter around him. Lucifer lay spooned up next to him, essence mingling with his, admiring the flower Gabriel was gesturing at._

_"Why that one?"_

_"Why? It tricks bees into having sex with it. A flower after my own heart." Gabriel gave Lucifer a look. "It's a pervert flower, and it's my favorite."_

_Lucifer laughed. "You wanna know why it's _my _favorite?"_

_"If it's something other than hot bee-on-flower action, I'll be sorely disappointed."_

_"I like it because it's proof that, even if he'll never admit it, the old man's got a sense of humor."_

The snow was catching in his eyelashes again. Gabriel left the tiny crystals alone, not wanting to look away from those orchids for a moment. He knelt down in the snow, gently touching his fingers to one soft petal.

"You got my favorite."

There were fingers on his chin, gently turning his face to the side. Lucifer was kneeling in the snow next to him, leaning in for another kiss. Gabriel closed the distance between them with an aching desperation, letting Lucifer grab his jacket and drag him close. They toppled into the snow, kissing hungrily, surrounded by orchids that swayed in the icy wind.

Gabriel pulled back for a moment to look down at Lucifer. The archangel was lying under him, panting, touching his face with a mixture of reverence and need. Gabriel could feel a hard bulge in that crisp white suit, nudging against the one in his own pants. He rocked his hips forward, grinding down against Lucifer, letting out a low groan as the pleasure grated through him. He didn't protest when Lucifer reached between them, undoing Gabriel's pants.

"Sam's in here, you know," Lucifer whispered.

Gabriel froze, panting. The cold wind blew the steam from his breath away.

"Don't feel guilty." Lucifer combed his fingers through Gabriel's hair, taking one of Gabriel's hands in his and pressing it against Sam's erection. " … He certainly doesn't."

Gabriel swallowed, fighting down the urge to squeeze that thick shaft. Another reason he'd never told Sam about his feelings: he was almost positive they weren't returned. He couldn't force unwanted touches on Sam's body, not if Sam could feel them. Gabriel summoned up all his willpower and pulled back when Lucifer tried to kiss him again, giving his brother a warning look.

"I can't have you lying to me about this, Luci. Not about this." He took a breath, ashamed of how much hope there was in his voice. " … Does Sam really want this?"

"Oh, Gabe baby… " Lucifer's smile was the one he used when Gabriel had done or said something dumb. "He's with _me_, Gabe. Mingling all through me. He knows you like _I_ know you." Lucifer shook his head, reaching up to touch Gabriel's face. "How could he _not _love you?"

Gabriel couldn't speak. He searched those hazel eyes for some sign of Sam, and for a heartbeat he swore he could see the hunter looking back at him. Swore that it was _Sam_ stroking a strand of hair behind his ear. Then Gabriel was being dragged down into a kiss, and he groaned and yanked open the fastening of Sam's pants, letting the weak hold he had on his own restraint slip away softly.

The orchids bobbed in the wind as Lucifer worked Gabriel's pants open, pulling out his erection. The cold wind blew over Gabriel's skin when it was bared to the air, but he wasn't bothered. His vessel was filled with the boiling heat of an aroused angel, and cold such as this couldn't touch him.

Gabriel pulled out Sam's cock and squeezed the hot length of it, groaning into his brother's mouth. Either one of them could have snapped their fingers and dispelled all the clothes, but there was something urgent and needy about fighting through the fabric to get at each other, something that Gabriel didn't want to give up and that he sensed Lucifer didn't want to give up either. He rutted into Sam's hand as he stroked the hunter's cock, moaning again. _Missed you, brother, missed you so much, never want to leave you again…_

Sam's hand was big enough to swallow up most of his cock, and he kept jerking it in these slow tugs that had Gabriel shuddering. He pulled away from Sam's mouth with a gasp when Sam's hand rotated over the head.

"Still got a silver tongue, Gabe?" Lucifer panted, breath steaming.

Gabriel snorted, grinning in spite of everything. "Still got a forked one?"

Lucifer tugged on his shoulders. "Turn around and you'll find out."

Gabriel rotated on top of Lucifer gladly, straddling his brother's shoulders and facing his feet. He groaned when he felt his cock being tugged down, felt something wet and thin flick over the head. _Two_ somethings. Gabriel groaned and pushed his hips down, slipping the head of his cock into Sam's eager mouth. Yeah, there was that forked tongue coming out to play.

Gabriel shuddered in pleasure as his brother's wet, warm mouth sucked on him. It had been too long since he'd had this. His little colony of humans had been too busy trying and failing to survive for him to properly seduce one of them. He'd forgotten the comfort of human intercourse, the warmth of skin on sweaty skin. Gabriel stroked Sam's dick a few times before leaning down and sucking a kiss onto the head of it. It was soft and warm, just like Sam's lips had been. Again with that perfectly calibrated human temperature. Gabriel sucked the cock into his mouth and groaned around it, rocking his hips down and thrusting slowly in and out of Sam's mouth. He moaned again, more weakly, when Lucifer grabbed his hair and guided his mouth up and down. Sam's mouth slid off his cock, replaced by a hand.

"There you go, Gabe, always did know how to use your mouth."

Gabriel didn't fight when he felt Lucifer yank his pants down, ripping them open in the process. He let out a choked groan when Lucifer's long, forked tongue curled around his cock, tugging it back into the angel's mouth. Then there were hands on his ass, yanking his hips down so his cock slipped right down Sam's throat. Gabriel groaned as Lucifer _kept on sucking, _that tongue squeezing and stroking and tickling his length. Gabriel dove back onto Sam's dick, not about to be outdone by his big brother. Lucifer had always made fun of him for getting competitive.

_"Geez, Gabe, it's not a contest."_

_"Nah, but we can make it one!"_

Gabriel bobbed his head up and down, letting Sam's dick slip in and out of his wet mouth. It was a simple matter to ignore his gag reflex and slide that huge dick down his throat, feeling it stretch him inside, twitching and dripping precome. Ignoring his vessel's gag reflex was something Gabriel had figured out a _while_ ago.

Lucifer groaned against him and slid his mouth off, panting when Gabriel bobbed his head so the last two inches of cock pumped in and out. "Ahh, Gabe… you haven't changed a bit… " His hand tightened in Gabriel's hair, dragging him up and down. "Nhh, you don't know how badly I've wanted this, little brother… "

Gabriel groaned, not resisting the rough touches. He grunted around Sam's cock when he felt a hand grab his ass, and moaned when that slick, forked tongue ran up the center of it. He shivered under each wet stroke, his cock leaking precome onto Lucifer's perfect white suit. When Lucifer's tongue started probing into him, penetrating his tight hole and working it open, he outright whimpered.

"Sam _especially _likes this part," Lucifer whispered against him hotly before plunging that tongue back into his hole.

Gabriel wasn't even trying to control his movements anymore, just going limp and letting Lucifer fuck into his throat and ass. It felt _so _good, head-spinningly _good_, to just lie still and not fight. For once, just not fight. Lucifer's strong hands in his hair and on his and ass felt comforting, safe, and he let them grab him roughly because it felt so good to just lie back and _trust._

Lucifer pulled back from his ass with a slurp, groaning and running his fingers through the dripping saliva. Gabriel could feel Sam's breath steaming against his skin. He felt two fingers nudge against his hole, and then the rough hand in his hair was pulling hard, dragging his body back so he slid onto Sam's fingers.

"That's it, Gabe… "

Gabriel let Lucifer guide his forward-back motions, rocking onto Sam's fingers and bobbing his mouth over that juicy cock. He could feel it jumping and twitching in his mouth. When Lucifer's tongue snaked out and curled around his cock again, those fingers still thrusting into him, Gabriel's back arched.

"You're so much more sensitive than you'll admit. Love that about you," Lucifer whispered against him, breathless. He bit into Gabriel's thigh to muffle a loud groan. "Agh, there you go, right there — you feel so damn good, Gabe baby — "

Gabriel sucked eagerly as Lucifer groaned and slammed down his throat, grabbing his hair painfully hard. He could feel his brother pulsing inside him, pumping come straight into his stomach. Lucifer yanked his hair suddenly, and Gabriel sucked down his first gasp of air as Sam's cock pulled free and a splatter of come shot across his wet, open mouth. He licked it off his lips, panting, not surprised to see Sam's cock still hard and ready to go. Angel stamina was a force to be reckoned with. Once he and Lucifer had made love for forty-one days and forty-one nights. It was going to be forty, but Gabriel had talked his big brother into going for one more.

_"Forty's just too neat and even, you know?"_

They'd done this so many times before, knew each other by heart. Even in vessels they knew just how to make each other come again and again for hours on end. Gabriel groaned as Lucifer pumped the fingers inside him, rubbing against his inner walls. That forked tongue was teasing at his cock, trailing up both sides of it at once. Gabriel let out a relaxed breath when the fingers slipped out of him, leaving him wet and loose. He let Lucifer push him off, push him down in the snow among the frozen stones and the bright colors of the orchids. His mouth was claimed in a possessive kiss that softened into something sweet and gentle. When Lucifer pulled back, his eyes were bright.

"I love you, little brother," he whispered.

Gabriel brushed snow out of Sam's hair. "You know I love you too, Luci."

Lucifer bit his lip, a look of urgency crossing his face as he cupped Gabriel's cheek. "Stay with me," he begged softly, lips brushing over his brother's. "You don't have to leave this world yet. Stay with me and Sam." He kissed across Gabriel's jaw until his forked tongue could flick across the rim of his ear. "Things can be like they were before."

Gabriel almost wanted to. But he could still see the bloody pieces of his humans scattered across the fallout shelter floor. And he knew he couldn't be a part of that.

Gabriel swallowed, turning Lucifer's face towards him. "For things to be like they were before, big brother," he said evenly, "you'd have to apologize to Father."

Lucifer's look hardened for a moment. He tore his gaze away, grimacing, and Gabriel could tell he'd struck a nerve.

"I'm going to miss you," Lucifer choked.

_Then don't do it. _The words wouldn't come out. Try as he might, the words just wouldn't come out. Gabriel didn't want to fight anymore.

Lucifer turned back to him, swallowing and giving him another tender kiss. "Let me. Please," he whispered, settling between Gabriel's open legs. "I don't want to be mad when I do it. I don't want to force you."

Gabriel couldn't find words. His eyes rolled back with pleasure when Lucifer found his cock and gave it a slow, languid stroke.

"Will you let me?" Lucifer was kissing him again, his cock nudging at Gabriel's hole. "Please, little brother?"

_Yes. _The word was on the tip of his tongue. _Was this how Sam felt when Lucifer asked him… ?_

Lucifer closed his eyes and let his forehead fall against Gabriel's, starting to slip into him as the snow fell around them, whispering his name like a prayer. "_Gabriel… _"

Gabriel's vision was rocking with pleasure. Lucifer kissed his neck, sinking deeper, and Gabriel stared up dizzily at the falling snow.

_ … Falling snow._

Something clicked in Gabriel's mind. Invisible to Lucifer, his golden wings gave a little flutter. In his mind, Gabriel could picture the Enochian sigils surrounding the altar. He could see them slowly disappearing under flake after flake of _falling snow._

Lucifer's lips pressed against his neck, sucking sweetly as his cock slid home, snugged up warm and thick inside Gabriel's body. Gabriel felt full and safe and loved and it wasn't even alarming when he saw Lucifer reach into his suit, pull out something silver…

"I'll do it right, little brother, I promise… "

Gabriel reached deep, deep inside himself and found the one little scrap of rebellion he hadn't let go of. Summoning all of his willpower, he reached into the void of space/time with his golden wings and blinked away.

Gabriel didn't _want_ to fight anymore. But damn it all to Hell, he was going to fight anyway.

Lucifer snarled when Gabriel disappeared out from under him. He stood up, staring into the dark sky as if he could see Gabriel fleeing into the roiling clouds.

"I'll find you, little brother," Lucifer shouted to the snow, voice echoing. He paced through it, feet crunching. The cold wind whipped his hair. "I'm not giving someone else the honor of ending you. Fly as fast as you can, run and hide, but you're _going_ to die on my blade."

No answer but the wind. Lucifer sighed and murmured softly, "I've got all the time in the world… "

He closed his eyes, and wings like a galaxy of orchids arced out into the darkness.


End file.
